Odd News

Quirky health and fitness news from around the globe

Those poor Teletubbies. First Tinky Winky's masculinity is called into question (and really, who wouldn't love his trés chic handbag?), and now the colorful foursome have to deal with obesity issues.

That's right, the Teletubbies are chubby, and some critics are arguing they encourage childhood obesity. At a nutrition conference in Australia, a speaker stated that the Teletubbies are “helping to entrench poor messages that being fat and jolly are attributes to aspire to.”

The Teletubbies aren't taking this name-calling lying down. They're getting even with a children's fitness video no less. The “Teletubbies Go!” will teach youngsters such basic movement skills as stretching, jumping, marching, standing on one leg and more.

Treadmills have gone to the birds, it seems. In Bangkok, a Thai farmer/cock-fighting trainer has invented a specially designed rooster treadmill in order to prepare the fowls for the ring.

“Roosters that have been trained on the treadmills are fully fit,” Thaweechai Thongruay told Reuters. “When they get in the ring, their legs are strong and they never stop the footwork.”

Old-style cock-fighting training consisted of racing roosters against one another in the open air. With his new invention, however, Thongruay initially runs the birds on the treadmills five to 10 minutes a day, then gradually increases to 30 minutes. Each machine is 15 inches wide, 25 inches long and 35 inches high, and features a small motor that can run the belt at varying speeds.